PROJECT SUMMARY ? VDDRC PILOT AND FEASIBILITY PROGRAM The Pilot and Feasibility (P/F) Program is a vital, essential component of the Vanderbilt DDRC (VDDRC). It directly supports the overall goals of the VDDRC, which are to: 1) promote digestive diseases research in an integrative, collaborative, and multidisciplinary manner; 2) attract new investigators to the study of these disorders; 3) enhance the innovative research capabilities of members; and 4) promote the career development of junior investigators. Through the P/F Program, we have a strong track record of recruiting highly talented young investigators and established investigators that are new to digestive disease research, as well as established GI investigators testing exciting new ideas. In the past 10 years, we have supported 58 P/F recipients, with 27 of these in the past 5 years. Our number of grants and the amount of support is greatly enhanced by a commitment of $100,000 per year from VUMC, plus additional funding available from the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR, Vanderbilt CTSA). Over the past two grant award cycles (years 6-15), P/F recipients have garnered $47,707,648 in Direct Cost funding subsequent to their P/F awards, yielding a 30? fold return on investment of the NIH funds used for P/F awards. We have demonstrated major benefits to the career development of PIs that were supported as Type N (New Investigators) in the P/F program, including development of faculty as transformers of their research fields and growth into academic leadership positions. The P/F Program has been directed since 2010 by Keith T. Wilson, M.D., Thomas F. Frist Sr. Professor of Medicine, Cancer Biology, and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Associate Director of the VDDRC. The VDDRC provides an applicant-friendly environment in which annual P/F grant opportunities are widely circulated via the VDDRC website and email announcements, and potential candidates interact directly with the P/F Director to ensure that their projects meet the goals of the VDDRC, optimize use of VDDRC Cores, and meet NIH guidelines for rigor and reproducibility. Our Specific Aims are: 1) To recruit talented New Investigators (Type N) without current or past independent NIH support to digestive disease research, in order to provide a foundation for career development and future independent funding; all successful Type N recipients benefit from enrollment in the VDDRC Academy of Investigators. 2) To recruit established investigators new to digestive disease research (Type EN), by supporting their studies of a digestive disease- related problem, with the goal of fostering collaborations and new directions that may lead to subsequent related publications, projects, and research grants in the field. 3) To support established investigators (Type E) in the digestive disease field in the pursuit of highly innovative, exciting new ideas, which is a significant departure from their previous work, and is likely to result in an important and fruitful new line of investigation. The overall goal is enhanced digestive disease-related research with exciting and transformative new ideas that can be catalyzed by P/F support and extensive interaction with Center members and activities.